Although Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal are set to throw down at UFC 261 this weekend doesn't mean that Dana White hasn't considered potential plans for the winner of their highly-anticipated rematch. 

Usman will reignite his rivalry with Masvidal in their second 170-pound showdown, live on ESPN and BT Sport, following his third-round TKO victory over Gilbert Burns in February at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

White has confirmed the news to Yahoo! Sports reporter Kevin Iole which could see Masvidal face his former teammate Colby Covington if he can get past the UFC welterweight champion.

Of course, Masvidal and Covington were favourites to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter after UFC 251 where Masvidal lost a one-sided unanimous decision to Usman.

Since that time, it was reported that the two sides had tried to come to terms on a potential deal to face each other, but they failed to reach an agreement.

However, White is adamant that either Usman or Masvidal must defend their belt against Covington following their next fight, which is set to take place this weekend. 

“Well, those guys were talking about rematching after that fight [at UFC 251] ’cause he [Masvidal] had taken that fight on short notice,” White said to Yahoo! Sports. “And, Usman was like, ‘I don’t want any excuses out of this guy.’ So I got no problem rematching them.”

“And I know we tried to make other fights - listen, everybody knows what I thought of the Usman vs. Colby Covington fight,” he added. “It’s one of the greatest fights I’ve ever seen. I don’t know what happened timing-wise or whatever that, that fight couldn’t happen, but it will. If he wins this weekend, Colby’s next.”

Usman faces Masvidal in the main event of UFC 261 being staged at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Whoever emerges as the champion will then have to face Covington in a title defense with "Chaos" currently the number one contender. 

Assuming he wins, Usman could then defend his title again at some point later this year against either Nate Diaz or Leon Edwards.